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Tag Archives: economics
Willing Suspension of Disbelief
Reports from the CBO that a Universal Health Coverage Bill would be budget neutral are obviously based on the third kind of lie (namely statistics). Could someone please point out to me where this plan gives health care providers an incentive to provide efficient, high-quality care? It seems to me that insuring all our uninsured citizens will never pay for itself in a system that thrives on inefficiency – as the current system does. Adding inefficiency couldn’t possibly pay for itself. Continue reading
A Novel Approach
As the clock starts in our efforts to reform out Utah health care system I was encouraged by this Op-Ed in the Salt Lake Tribune. Making health insurance affordable – forcing carriers to offer so-called “affordable plans” – will not … Continue reading
Block Grants
When I read The Coming Crisis of Big Government I gained a measure of hope that there might be some possibility left for averting the crisis of our soon-to-balloon costs for social security and Medicare. One of the central examples … Continue reading
Buyers of Medical Services
Reach Upward nails it again when he talks about Serving Medical Customers. One of the primary rules of economics is that suppliers do their best to supply what buyers actually demand. Who are the real buyers of medical services? Not … Continue reading
Imports and Jobs
I had asked whether our markets would be better served with a tit for tat approach to tariffs rather than a more dedicated insistence on free trade on imports. If I had any lingering doubts on the subject they were … Continue reading
Free Marketer’s Dilemma
I’m a proponent of the value of free markets and their ability to enrich people. The problem is that the free market only works in a closed system, in other words a free market is not favored when intersecting with … Continue reading
Income vs Consumption
I found it fascinating to read You Are What You Spend to see how different the economic picture is depending on the way we measure economic position. . . . renewed attention is being given to the gap between the … Continue reading
Feeling Bloated
As if the Republican party (thanks largely to the current administration) had not long ago lost any credibility to apply the “tax and spend” label to the Democrats, the American Enterprise Institute has now published a report on just how … Continue reading
Nobody Seems Impressed
I chuckled as I returned to an article from early December by Paul Krugman about how: In past financial crises — the stock market crash of 1987, the aftermath of Russia’s default in 1998 — the Fed has been able … Continue reading
Promote Job Creation
Bob Herbert and I often differ in our views but I really like what he said about economic stimulus as is being discussed in D.C. There is no question that some kind of stimulus package geared to the needs of … Continue reading